Chapter 3: Dystopia and Utopia: Fiction or Reality?

To what extent can dystopias exist in the real world?

Introduction: Definitions.

Part 1) In Fiction.
1) Dystopia.

Document: Orwell’s 1984. This excerpt depicts Winston, a man who lives in a
totalitarian society ruled by a man known as Big Brother. Their values are inverted,
claiming that war is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength. Although
there are no rules, he knows that if he gets caught writing in his diary, he risks
being send to a forced-labor camp or being sentenced to death. Again, writing is
not illegal, since there are no laws, but it also means that there are no laws
protecting the citizens from injustices. We can also notice that people have gotten
out of the habit of writing, as Winston barely (=à peine) remembers how to use a
pen. This implies that if nobody writes anymore, there probably aren’t books, and
dissident ideas cannot be spread.
Grammar: la voix passive en tant qu’outil de mise en scène: insister sur la victime ou celui qui bénéficie de quelque
chose.

2) Utopia.

Document: A. Huxley’s Island. In this novel, Huxley tells the story of a perfect
world. A remote island whose civilization seems to be more evolved than the
West. However, it cannot be a perfect utopia, as in order for balance to be
maintained there has to be some form of control. Births are regulated, for
example. Therefore its inhabitants aren’t as free as they think they are. Moreover,
because it is so unusually perfect and has oil, it attracts people whose intentions
aren’t good. Consequently, we may think that there is no such thing as a utopia,
thus the name which means “no place” in Greek, and that such societies could
easily be dystopias in disguise.
3) Blurring the lines: Utopia or Dystopia?

Document 1) The Truman Show. In this movie, Truman has been raised in a fake
world which is actually a huge stage created for a long-running reality show. At
first, Truman, from his point of view, is living the life. Everybody loves him. He has
a wife, great neighbors, but one day a spotlight falls out of the sky. That’s when he
starts to realize that something isn’t right in his allegedly utopian life. He realizes
that people are somehow putting up an act on a daily basis. Their actions are
repeated and similar. He also finds out that he can’t escape his city. Meanwhile,
people have been enjoying watching his life on TV since he was a baby. The
director of the TV show reminds us of Big Brother. His strength was Truman’s
ignorance. Truman’s life turns into a dystopia when he realizes that everything has
always been a lie and that the real world has been using him and toying with his
life for entertainment purposes. Ironically, he’s the only TRUE MAN in that fake
world. One who has always been nice and who has always cared about the others.
The people who live “in the real world” are despicable. How can they find it okay
to lock someone up in a fake city so they can spy on his life? Perhaps they’ve been
even more manipulated than Truman, as THEY knew what was going on and still
agreed to watch the show.

Document 2) A. Huxley’s Brave New World. In this story, people are controlled
from their births onwards. Babies are not created naturally anymore, they’re
created in laboratories by scientists. As soon as they’re born, they are
brainwashed into belonging to different castes. They’re told what to think, who to
like and hate, and so on. This world is horrible, as they don’t even realize they’re
not free. It may look “perfect” as they all fit perfectly in their castes, but where’s
free will? This is obviously a dystopia, although those who built that society
probably wanted to make it a perfect world. It may be reminiscent of North Korea,
where kids are taught how great the Kim Jong family is and told heroic stories
about how they saved the country. They just don’t see those leaders as dictators.
That causes us to wonder whether dystopias only exist in fiction.
Part 2) In Real Life.

Could dystopian literature be a warning as to what could happen in the real world?

Documents: China’s social credit system (article + video)

In those documents, we learn about a ranking system that China has started to
test on its citizens. Basically, good citizens score points that they lose if they
“misbehave.” Those bad deeds include: jaywalking, being late, buying too many
videogames, posting certain things online, going through a red light, etc.
Your face might even be on display in malls when you go shopping for everyone to
see that you’re a bad citizen.
Should you be considered a bad citizens, certain things will become impossible for
you: booking a hotel, traveling...
The worst part is that many citizens actually find this system to be a good idea.

What does science have to do with any of this?

That system wouldn’t have been made possible without technological advances
such as mass video surveillance and facial recognition. Technologies which were
originally invented to make our lives easier could just as well turn them into a
nightmare. Nuclear energy can be used to produce electricity, but it was also use
to wipe out Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
We rely on technology more and more. You can now have smart locks, smart
fridges, you name it, but with the rise of those devices comes the issue of safety.
Can anyone just hack their way into your smart home? Could self-driving cars be
used to commit crimes from a remote location? Those who create such devices
need to make sure they’re safe before they fall in the wrong hands. Responsibility
is important and should never be overlooked.

Could it be worse than that?

Well, it could obviously become worse, one step at a time. Maybe citizens could be
sent to jail for reading “illegal” books. Maybe they wouldn’t be allowed to buy
food if their scores were too low--China is also becoming a cashless society where
most people pay with their phones, so you could potentially block their bank
accounts. Who knows how far it could go?
Conclusion:
This just goes to show that show that dystopias don’t just belong to fiction. Maybe
the main role of dystopian fiction is to warn us before it’s too late, even when
whatever turned a society into a living nightmare was originally for the greater
good of everyone. As the following English idioms says, “the road to hell is paved
with good intentions.”
Vocabulary:
Dictator=dictateur
Dictatorship=dictature
Authoritarian=autoritaire
Regime=régime
Government=gouvernement
Leader=chef/dirigeant
To lead=diriger
Citizen=citoyen
Inhabitant=habitant
The West=l’Occident
The East=l’Orient
Free speech/freedom of speech=liberté d’expression
To brainwash=manipuler/laver le cerveau
To manipulate=manipuler
Manipulator=un manipulateur
Manipulative= (adj) manipulateur
Unscrupulous=sans scrupules
To lie=mentir
Liar=menteur
A lie=un mensonge
True=vrai
False=faux
The truth=la vérité
To punish=punir
Shameful=honteux
Fair/just=juste
Unfair/Unjust=injuste
justice=justice
injustice=injustice
Realize=se rendre compte de
Forced labor-camp=camp de travaux forcés
To be reminiscent of=rappeler (quelquechose)
Compared to=comparé à
In comparison to=comparé à
Cashless=sans argent liquide
CCTV=vidéo surveillance (closed-circuit television)
Video surveillance=vidéo surveillance
Mass surveillance=surveillance de masse
Facial recognition=reconnaissance faciale
A stage=une scène
To stage=mettre en scène
To talk (someone) into something/doing something=persuader (quelqu’un) de faire quelque chose.
To force someone to do something=forcer qqn à faire qqc.
To make someone do something=forcer qqn à faire qqc.